Bagasse-furnace



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet '1.

L. P. RIDER.

BAGASSB FURNACE.

' A TTOR/VEY) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

L.. P. RIDER.-

BAGASSB FURNACE.

No. 349,236. Patented Sept.. 14, 1886.

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A TTUR/VE N. PETERS. Phalo-Lllhugnpher, Waihmgion, u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

LEMA N r. RIDER, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

BAGASSE-FURNACE.

srnoir'ica'rion forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,236, dated September 14, 1886. Application filed October 12, 1883. Renewed March G, 1886. Serial No. 194,358. (No model.) Patented in Cuba March 15, 1882,

To all whom it may con ern: whereby it may be closed tightly.v The grate Be it known that I, LEMAN P. RIDER, of b is provided with movable bars I) and ashak- Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, State ing-lever, b". It is necessary to have either a of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useshaking-grate or movable grate-bars.- I have 5 5 ful Improvement in Processes of and Furnaces shown an effective form of shaking-grate, such for Burning Bagasse; and I do hereby declare as is described and shown in Letters Patent of that the following is a full, clear, and exact the United States granted me J anuary23, 187 7 description thereof, referencebeing had to the No; 186,436; July 17, 187 7 No. 193,180; and accompanying drawings, and to the lettersof July 17, 1.877, No. 193,181, to which I give 60 10 reference marked thereon. preference, but any efficient and practical one In the manufacture of sugar the sugar-cane will do. A detailed description of them is not is subjected to the action of rolls for the purnecessary. pose of extracting the saccharine juice there- In the front wall of the furnace is an open from, and many attempts, but with indifferent ing, e, closed by a suitable door, 6, and on 6 5 results, have been made to utilize the green top between the rows of feed-openings is arcane as a fuel after being subjected to said ranged a receptacle, f, for containing a supply action of the rolls. of fuel, such as green cane or wet tan-.bark. l have found by practical experience that The receptacleis fitted with openings provided damp tan-bark and alsothat green sugar-cane, with sliding doors f opposite to the feed-open- 7o after being subjected to the action. of rolls, are ings d, so that the fuel may be drawn out of of more value as a fuel than the dry tan-bark the receptacle directly into the feedbpenings. or dry sugar-cane, for the reason that in the Each feed-opening may, however, be provided damp or green state they have many elements with a separate hopper, f (shown in dotted which greatly assist in combustion, which elelines in Fig. 2,) for containing fuel, from which 7 5 ments are evaporated when the taubark or it may be forced directly into the furnace. A cane is in a dry condition. combustion-chamber, g, is located back of the Now, my invention consists in the method of fire-chamber a and between it and the boiler burning green cane in the condition that it h, or other point where the heat is applied. comes from the rolls and in a furnace for can The area of the combustion-chamber in cross- 81 3O rying out said method, all of which will heresection should. be equal to about one-third (t) inafter more fully and at large appear. of the same area of the firc-chamber, its floor To enable others skilled in the art with which on about a horizontal plane, and the chord of my invention is most nearly connected to make the arch equal to the width of the fire-chamber.

and use it, I will proceed to describe its con- The important object of the combustion- 8 3 5 struction and operation. chamber is to secure compression of the gases In the accompanying drawings, which form in their passage through said chamber, and the part of my specification, Figurelis a longitudircverbcratory action of the heated walls of the nal section of my improved furnace, showing chamber upon said gases while passing through its application to use with a steam-boiler. it, whereby complete combustion of the gases 0 0 Fig. 2is a crosssection of the furnace. Fig. is obtained.

3 is a top view or plan. The horizontal floor of the combustion-cham- In the accompanying drawings, a is the furbcr secures the reverberatory action of the arch nace, which is built of common brick lined and bottom of said chamber upon the passing with fire-brick, and has an interior chamber, gases. Beyond the chamber 9 is a dust and 5 a, of about eight feet square by about two and cinder trap, h, which may be supplied with a one-half feet in height from the grate-bars b cleaning-flue, which should be closed tightly to the crown of the arch 0, which forms the by a suitable door. The chamber 9 is lined v top of the furnace. In the arch c are a numwith firebrick. lhe air which supports comber of openings, cl-preferably six or morebustion is supplied through the ash-pit i, the

5,0 for admitting the cane to the furnace, each front, sides, and top of the furnace being tight 1 opening having an iron frame, cl, and lid d, ly closed.

In the construction of the furnace the brick in the crown of the fire and the combustionehanibers should be laid endwise, as shown in Fig. 2, to store the greatest amount ofheat in the walls for rcvcrberatory action. In this construction a non-conductor of heat should be placed between the ends of the layers of brick.

The operation of my improvement is as follows: A fire is made in the chamber a by means of fuel inserted through the front opening, e, which is then closed by the door 0. \Vhcn the fire-chamber a has become thoroughly heated, a charge of green cane is fed from the receptacle f through the openings (1 in the following manner, viz: The holes d are arranged in two rows, and the cane is charged successively through di a gonall y-opposite open ings, so that the green charge from one open ing shall not fall next to and in contact with a green charge from another opening, and also that one green charge shall not be in front and in the line of draft of another green charge.

In Fig. 3, I show six charging-holes. The first charge would be made through 6, the next through 2, the next through 4, the next through 3, the next through 5, and the last through 1, and so on in thesame order. The green cane bei ng fed through the top openings, and being permitted to fall vertically on the grate, assumes a conical or pyramid al shape, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and as the successive charges fall the bases of the cones so formed extend into contact with each other. This form is peculiarly well fitted for the driving off of the vapors and gases of the green cane, as the superficial area of the several, cones presents the largest possible surface of exposure to the action of the heat, and as the broad base of each cone is exposed to and rests upon the bed of hot fuel on the grate-bars, and the gases are caused to ascend through the center of the pile, while the whole superficial area of the outside is exposed to the action of the fierce flame from the more highly-heated piles. The result is an extremely rapid distillation of the gases, which are driven over the bridge wall k and are there thoroughly mingled in the combustion-chamber with the heated air and flame from other parts of the tire-chamber and completely consumed. Vhen the furnace is fed as described, suflicient time is given between each charge to permit each charge to pass the period of distillation and come to a highly-heated state before the charge on the opposite side of the furnace is fed in, so that the fresh gases from such charge shall not check the consumption of the previous charge. During the operation of the furnace the grate b is occasionally shaken to open up the superimposed mass of green cane for the free admission of air and incidentally to shake out the ashes.

Practical experience has demonstrated the fact that my furnace, so fed and operated, not only successfully burns the green cane completely, leaving merely a fine dust or ash and no clogging residuum or cinder, but also that a much more intense heat is generated there i from than can, possibly be obtained by the use without the addition of other fuel.

Through the medi um of a furnace constructed as hercinbefore described, and for which Letters Patent were granted me in Cuba March 15, 1882, and said furnace fed and operated as described, I have demonstrated fully and clearl y that the practical advantages of my i nvention consists in the utilization of a heretofore waste substance without the necessity of ])rcliminary treatment to render it useful. I save the cost of transporting it away from the mill, which its enormous bulk has heretofore rendered necessary at a cost, in large establishments, ofthousands ofdollars perannum. The arch of the chamber a causes a reverberatory action, whereby the intense heat generated by the cones which are in advanced stages of combustion is cast down upon the cones on the opposite side of the furnace which are still in the distillation stage. Thus the heat is equalized and all parts of the fire-chamber operate to secure the thorough combustion of the cane.

I do not limit myself to any particular number or arrangement of the charging-holes, except that the number and arrangement should be such as will enable the furnace to be charged as described without damping the fire therein.

Having thus described my improvement, what I claim as of my invention is- 1. The process of burning bagasse,tan-lnn-k, or other fuel, which consists in first heating a furnace, then charging it with fuel in conical piles successively into different parts of one and the same fire-chamber, so that one fresh draft of another fresh charge, substantially as described.

2. The process of burning green bagassc or wet tan-bark, which consists in depositing it in a fire-chamber alternately through diagonallyopposite openings in the crown of the furnace in conical piles, conducting air through the bases of said piles, and subjecting their sur faces to the reverberatory action of the heated walls ofthe furnace, substantially as set forth.

3. The process of burning green bagasse or wet tan-bark, which consists in heating a furnace to glowing heat, then charging the fuel into the fire-chamber alternately through diagonally-opposite openings in the crown of the furnace in. conical piles with their bases resting upon a bed of hot fuel, substantially as described.

4. A furnace having a series of. chargingholes in the crown, arranged in parallel rows over one and the same firechamber, substantially as described.

5. A furnace having a shaking-grate or movable grate-bars and a series of charging holes in the crown, arranged in parallel rows over one and the same fire-chamber, substantially as described.

6. A furnace provided with a suitable grate,

a series [of charging-holes in the crown, ar-

ranged in parallel rows over one and the same charge shall not fall next to or in the line of of dry or partially dried cane, either with or fire-chamber, and tightly-closed walls and crown, whereby all the air for combustion is supplied through the ash-pit, substantially as described.

7. A furnace provided with a suitable grate, a series of charging-holes in the crown, arranged in parallel rows, in combination with a receptacle for containing fuel and supplying it directly to said charging-holes, substantially as described.

8. A furnace provided with a suitable grate, a series of charging-holes in the crown, arranged in parallel rows, in combination with a receptacle placed on. top of the furnace between the charging-holes, and having discharge-openings opposite to the respective charging-holes, substantially as described.

9. A furnace having a suitable grate, and a series of chargingholes in the crown arranged in parallel rows over one and the same fireehamber, in combination with a combustionchamber between the fire-chamber and the point where the heat is applied, substantially as described.

LEMAN I. RIDER.

\Vitnesses:

A. O. JOHNSTON, J. J. JOHNSTON. 

